This invention relates to a coffeemaker comprising a hot water generator, an infusion chamber that is designed to hold a product to be infused and that is fed by said generator, at least one outlet for distribution of the infusion, and a foam-making device that is inserted between said infusion chamber and said distribution outlet and that comprises at least two outlet openings, in a suitable section, arranged relative to one another so as to create at the outlet respectively at least two infusion jets that collide with one another when the foam is being formed.
A product support that is to be infused and that has a circular bottom delimiting the lower part of an infusion chamber, when it is placed in a coffeemaker, is known from the document U.S. Pat. No. 5,711,880. The bottom of this support has calibrated openings that form suitable channels for creating infusion jets. The support openings are arranged in pairs so as to face one another. The infusion that passes through a pair of these openings forms two liquid jets that are directed against one another and that collide by forming with one another an angle that is close to 180 degrees. It is indicated that the collision of the jets under this angle is particularly favorable for making foam.
However, the thus produced foam-making device has various drawbacks, primarily linked to the fact that the latter is closely linked to the product support to be infused.
The product support to be infused is actually to perform functions that are differentiated from the foam-making device, such as, for example, to play the filter role if the product to be infused comes in the form of a loose grind, or to ensure a simple support function while making possible a passage of the infusion through the latter if the product to be infused comes in the form of one dose of grind packed in a filter paper packet, generally called a dosette. The product support to be infused also has as its function to define the volume and the geometric shape of the infusion chamber to adapt to the amount of infusion to prepare or to the type of dosette to hold; actually, there currently exist so-called “coffee” machines that can not only prepare coffee from the dosette or coffee grind, but also other infusion types, such as, for example, tea, a chocolate drink, hot milk, or a mixture of these products. It is therefore necessary to design product supports to be infused that have different characteristics to adapt in particular to the nature and to the volume of these products. Consequently, the unit design of the support and the foam-making device as described in the document U.S. Pat. No. 5,711,880 proves unsuitable. In addition, there may exist a need for using a product support to be infused that has given characteristics with or without a foam-making device according to the type of drink that it is desired to prepare.
The applicant has therefore concluded that there was a need to separate the functions of the product support to be infused and the functions of the foam-making, it being understood that the foam-making device is to be placed beyond the infusion chamber to treat the liquid infusion that is prepared in the chamber. However, an arrangement of the foam-making device downstream from the infusion chamber requires taking into consideration the available space for this device and in particular for arranging the openings opposite one another while taking into account the infusion feed of these openings. This therefore brings about an additional production constraint, primarily if the foam-making device is to be integrated in a standard-size filter holder or a filter holder that is designed to hold a particularly large amount of product to be infused.
In contrast, it is also necessary to take into consideration the flow of the infusion behind the foam-making device, from which the pressure of the infusion is considerably reduced, approximately equal to the atmospheric pressure for a low-pressure machine, and the flow is obtained essentially by gravity. Actually, an accumulation of the infusion or an insufficient flow can bring about a premature fouling of the pipes, primarily in the case of milk-containing drinks.